Clearly, I’ve been out of touch lately. Unfortunately, it’s going to be like this for a few more weeks.

Yesterday, it was rainy and I made mac and cheese out of a box – which was really good, by the way. And I told a friend that I “made” mac and cheese and it took some confusing minutes before I established that boiling water, placing pasta in said water, and snipping the corner off the cheese pouch and pouring it in qualified as “cooking” in my mind.

That’s how things are going these days.

So I will be back, I promise, and will make many yummy things in pretty ways, but give me this little interlude to deal with a ridiculous number of things that have to be done by the end of May.

In return, I’ll post funny things from the internet: like my TV boyfriend Coney and Jim Carrey, being awesome.

A good friend had a little birthday shindig at her apartment this weekend, and she put out quite a spread.

I love this! Such tasty and homemade food (including my Dill, Sour Cream and Onion Vegetable Dip) and drinks (she had three homemade specialty cocktails to choose from) made the party feel special in a way it wouldn’t have with store-bought platters. We’re bringing back the homemade dinner party!

I have never made bread at home, probably because I like immediate gratification and bread takes a reeeeally long time. This bakery is inspiring me to develop patience, though.

http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/bread-going-green

As customers trickle in and out, many comment on the bread, which tastes pure and anachronistic. It is the kind you wish you could make at home. “I’m so glad someone is making such wonderful sourdough here,” says an elderly man. The sourdough are proved – i.e., left to rise – for up to 48 hours, which allows the bread to develop in flavour and texture. “It’s also healthier,” explains Glendinning, “because as gluten matures it becomes more fragile and easier to digest, unlike supermarket breads.”

I was eating some vanilla ice cream the other night and had the thought that it was a little boring and I wished I had a sauce with it. Then I realized I had blueberries in the fridge, and fifteen minutes later I had the loveliest sauce for my boring vanilla.

I’m minorly (read: totally) proud of myself.

Chocolate Blueberry Sauce

About a cup of fresh blueberries. This would work equally well with frozen, just use a little less water

½ cup of water

¼ cup white sugar

¾ teaspoon cornstarch

zest of half a lemon

2 heaping teaspoons cocoa (or to taste)

Stick all the ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Smash blueberries with the back of a spoon against the side of the pan until you get bored. (A potato masher would also work really well, but I don’t have one.) Add two heaping teaspoons of good cocoa and whisk it in. Let it simmer until it thickens to your preference.

Either eat it when hot, or put it in the fridge to cool down. Personally, I couldn’t wait (hence, the meltiness in the photograph). I did have some the next day though, when it was cold, and it had thickened up even more and was SO good.

This would also be a wonderful sauce over brownies alone, ice cream with brownies, a meringue, pound cake, or even over coffee cake in the morning.

I’m a bad food blogger because I totally forgot to take photos of the food. You know how busy it is right when all the dishes are suddenly ready and hot and guests are standing around waiting to eat? Instead of taking photos at that moment, I put the food on the table and fed them. And didn’t take photos. I’ve decided (to make myself feel better) to chalk it up to being a good host but it still doesn’t change that I have no photos for you guys! Grrrr.

Next time, I will remember. Promise.

Easter Brunch Menu

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Gouda and Chives

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Turkey Bacon

Greenmarket Button Mushrooms

Fruit Salad with Honey Yogurt Sauce

I’ll post the recipes for the scrambled eggs and honey yogurt sauce over the next week.

As a penitent offering, please enjoy this photo of a sign I saw while wandering around a hunting store in Colorado. I seriously contemplated what kinds of other aids visually disabled people might need to be able to to hunt and how exactly that would work until I realized….

Colorado hunting store owners? Not so great at the capitalization. Plus, I actually showed this photo to the checkout lady and she didn’t seem to think it was funny at all, so what can you do.